UPDATE: Iran president meeting with Turkey’s Erdogan for Gaza talks delayed

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The scheduled Thursday meeting between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been delayed, according to the Turkish Presidency Office.

Raisi was scheduled depart for Ankara on Thursday morning and was to attend a private meeting with Erdogan during his visit, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported earlier.

However, the bombings on Wednesday near the grave of General Qasem Soleimani in Iran, which have thus far killed 103 people and injured 141 others, has postponed the meeting indefinitely.

Moreover, the Iranian and Turkish presidents were also scheduled to attend the 8th Iran-Turkey Supreme Council of Economic Cooperation, with further plans to attend a joint meeting of businessmen and economic activists from the two countries.

On the agenda for the talks were also the situations in Gaza and Syria.

Both Turkey and Iran oppose the US presence in Syria and have been strongly critical against Israel’s actions in Palestine.

However, unlike Iran, Turkey has had political and economical relations with Israel, albeit a recent diplomatic spat between Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have hampered relations, with both countries withdrawing their envoys. Yet, Turkey is still one of the only countries in the Middle East where Israeli passport holders can travel. More notably, Israel and Turkey have both supported Azerbaijan with military support against Armenia. 

A planned visit by Raisi to Ankara in late November was postponed due to the conflicting schedules of Turkish and Iranian foreign ministers, the Mehr News Agency also reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara welcomed Mehrdad Bazrpash, Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development.

Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq

Editor's note: This article was updated at 11:33 p.m. (Erbil Time) to reflect new info that the meeting has been canceled.